A Narrative History of the Montana Heritage Project

The Colors of Our Past Will Paint Our Future

Toni Gies

Roundup High School

1999-00

In the Roundup art classes, the theme “The Colors of Our Past Will Paint Our Future” was integrated into every project. The class began by talking about many famous and not-so-famous journeys and discoveries and asking themselves what they could learn from these journeys and what was important about their own personal journeys. They took an in-depth look at the Corps of Discovery and pondered many questions: What impact did this trip have on the world? What might I do on my own personal journey that could impact the world? Of what importance is my own personal journey? Should it be recorded? How can I record this journey in a pictorial manner? What things, people, events, values might I include in my drawing? These investigations culminated in carvings and pictorial family trees.

Students also looked at their community’s buildings and discussed what they knew about them, noting that many were derelict, seemingly doomed to disappear. They formed groups, chose sites, then researched the histories of specific buildings, hoping to compile enough information to nominate buildings to the National Register of Historic Places.